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Exam Cram books

I was wondering if the Exam Cram books are enough since they claim to cut straight to the point. The two certs I am needing books for are network+ and security+ in that order. I was at BAM today and reading through the exam cram and also the the hardback sybex(?) books. Also have any of you used these sybex books. Those hardback sybex books are quite a bit more $ but claim to come with a lot of extra materials on cd. In the end I will probably be buying these books used online at amazon. Thanks

I find them useful but I wouldn't depend on them as my only reference.

"When I get a little money I buy books; and if any is left I buy food and clothes." - Erasmus
"There is no programming language, no matter how structured, that will prevent programmers from writing bad programs." - L. Flon
"Mischief my ass, you are an unethical moron." - chshBlog of X

The CD in the Sybex Security + books is "OK" but as Juridian said, don't make this your only book, or source. They concentrate on more practical study guide type things, when what you'll probably want is something like a mixture of Sybex and TCP/IP related books mixed with other security books. UNIX books are something you may want too look into too. I've learned more about networking from these than I have from "Network books".

It's a shame what you can get away with calling a book these days. The biggest problem with these types of books are misinformation. If something doesn't seem right too you, make sure you say something about it. I can't stand incompetent authors who breed on the money of the drooling half wits that read and believe everything in them.

Thanks for the advice guys. I don't have a whole lot of money right now so I need to be sure that I pass these tests on the first try cause I can't afford the exam fees if I need to retake. I will probably get an informative book and then an exam cram to complement each other and then do tons of practice tests online. Also one more question...Do I need to get the latest editions of these books or does the material stay basically the same? Thanks

"When I get a little money I buy books; and if any is left I buy food and clothes." - Erasmus
"There is no programming language, no matter how structured, that will prevent programmers from writing bad programs." - L. Flon
"Mischief my ass, you are an unethical moron." - chshBlog of X